A 5-year-old Nottingham girl stunned her parents when she managed to do a 400-metre run during an athletics event in which she was meant to be completing a children's race. Edie Campbell-Goddard took part in the Highland Games in Oban, Scotland, during a family holiday with her sister, mum and dad.
The run she was taking part in lasted for only a fraction of the running track, but her dad didn't manage to pick her up at the finish line and she ended up completing the full lap. With a nickname of 'Speedy Edie' and reports on her success in the Scottish press, Edie's family are now wondering whether she has a future career in athletics.
Her mum Dawn Campbell-Goddard, 47, said: "The children's race was only supposed to be a short little run, probably about 10 metres or perhaps even less, but Edie just carried on running and managed to do nearly 400 metres.
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"We go up to Scotland every year and we'd been to the 150th Highland Games and just thought it was such a special event, so we knew we wanted to go again this year. Edie was very keen to take part but she kept asking me if she had to do the children's race."
The event took place on Thursday, August 25, with Edie's father David Goddard, 52, and sister Erin, 8, also attending. Dawn, who lives with her family in Wollaton, said: "There was another little girl behind Edie who thought that the race wasn't finished and so she ended up doing the full lap as well. Edie's going into Year One at the Fernwood Primary School in Wollaton in September and she's usually quiet at school, but hopefully she'll be telling everyone about this.
"Her sister Erin was so proud of her for managing to finish the race and she just couldn't stop laughing. Erin took part in two races as well, but me and David were purely spectators."
Proud dad David said: "I was stood there at the finish line to grab Edie when she finished but I didn't manage to pick her up and she just kept going. She did look back at me but she was just under the impression that she was winning the race and so she didn't want to stop.
"People were absolutely amazed that she managed to do it because some of the athletes doing the full track had been on their backs by the end, but I was probably more tired after watching Edie than she was from doing the run. Even when I picked her up at the end of the full lap she did, her legs were still running.
"The commentator of the event said that in 151 years of the Highland Games, this was the first example of a false finish. We are all now wondering whether there is some sort of future running career for Edie because she did so well and we do call her 'Speedy Edie'."
Dawn added: "I've read that she was the winner and it's funny how they have worked that out, given that she created her own race. Edie has done her school sports day and so on before but this was her first big race and she managed to make it even bigger."
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